Omega-3 Fats in Vegan Diets: A Quick Primer

I’ve written about omega-3s before, as recently as a year ago, but there continues to be much confusion about these compounds and lots of misinformation about them on the internet. The confusion focuses largely on the difference between the two types of omega-3s. If you take supplements of DHA (or DHA and EPA), do you still need flaxseed? And if you are eating flaxseed, do you need those DHA supplements?

The short answer is that you definitely need the flaxseed (or some equivalent food) and you may need the DHA supplements.

Flaxseeds and a handful of other plant foods provide an omega-3 fat called alpha-linolenic acid or ALA which is an essential nutrient. This means it is absolutely necessary in your diet. Best sources for vegans are flaxseed and flax oil, chia seeds, hempseed oil, walnuts or walnut oil, canola oil, and full fat soyfoods. You can check the vegan food guide to see how much of these foods to eat. (The information is in the bottom right section of the guide.)

The other omega-3 fats are DHA and EPA, two closely-related fats typically found in fatty fish, and to a lesser extent in some sea vegetables. They are not considered essential nutrients because humans can synthesize these fats from ALA. Whether we can make enough for optimal health is a big question, though. Vegans have lower blood levels of these fats than people who eat fish, but how much this matters remains unclear. The jury is still out on the health benefits of DHA and EPA intake. These fats may protect against heart disease as well as dementia and depression, but the findings are conflicting. The good news is that if you choose to take supplements of DHA and EPA (and I do), there are vegan sources derived from algae.

The important thing to remember, though, is that the two types of omega-3 fats are not interchangeable. Whether or not you’re taking supplements of DHA and EPA, you still need a source of ALA, like flaxseeds. And, even with a good source of ALA in your diet, you may benefit from supplements of DHA and EPA, especially if you’re at risk for heart disease or depression.

50 Responses to Omega-3 Fats in Vegan Diets: A Quick Primer

Thank you for laying that out clearly. I had all those acronyms kind of floating around in my head, and I was vaguely worried about my flaxseed-only supplementing, but this made me feel a lot better, and better informed.

Hi, I’ve seen a number of vegan omega-3 supplements (including a few from DEVA) that had DHA listed in the Supplement Facts box but never one that had EPA listed. I’ve only seen EPA listed on fish oil bottles. Can you please tell me which DEVA product you found that also lists EPA so I can try to track it down and buy some? Thanks very much.

Ovega-3 is a great value. It has much more EPA than other brands, and it’s about half the cost. $16.99 on Amazon for 60 capsules. I called the comapny to ensure that it’s vegan; the glycerin is from palm fruit.

Thank you for the clarification. For some reason I found all of this information to be rather confusing when covered in your book (which I do think is great!), but now it makes more sense to me. I take a DHA supplement daily (I think it is around 300 mg.) because of depression. Is that okay, or too much?

Hey. I take 2 tablespoons of Udo’s Oil DHA 369 Blend everyday… the first ingredient is flaxseed oil, along with sunflower oil, sesame seed oil… and on and on. It provides 200mg of algae DHA and 6 mg of EPA. Anyway this seems to cover all the bases, so I’d recommend it.

Thanks for this! I take DHA oil everyday as well as chia seeds and I’m pregnant. My question is how much chia seeds do I need daily to meet the LNA requirement? Is it the same serving size as ground flax seeds? Thanks muchly!!

I’ve read there’s some controversy over the use of DHA/EPA supplements, partly in relation to the risk of taking these during flu seasons, but particularly, over whether they are at all beneficial. Any thoughts?

Thanks for such a clear and concise explanation. I’ve fallen off the bandwagon, but will get back on starting today. Do you have any recommendations for my 5 year old and 13 month old? Do they need supplementation as well? Both take a high quality vegan multi and the little one is still nursing and drinking soy milk. Thanks again.

Tiffany and Anne, we recommended a small amount of DHA/EPA for children–around 100 milligrams per day. It’s possible, though, that children raised vegan from birth are much better at making their own DHA/EPA. We just don’t know.

A nursing baby should get enough from his/her mom’s milk, though, as long as the mother’s diet is sufficient.

And unfortunately, I don’t know of any chewables. One idea might be to cut the capsule open and mix a little bit of the contents into food.

“my article does state that the benefits of taking these supplements aren’t know”

Then maybe you should not recommend these supplements. There is no evidence that vegans require EPA/DHA supplementation. I also know that you are aware of recent work suggesting that intake of ALA omega 3s may be sufficient. The track record of clinical studies investigating health benefits of supplements has been dismal (e.g. batting ZERO).

Yes, you’re right that there is no evidence that vegans require dietary sources of these fats, but given that vegans do have lower blood levels and that they may have health benefits, it seems prudent to add a small supplement as insurance. At least until we have evidence that the lower levels in vegans don’t matter.

I’m not sure what you mean about studies showing ALA to be sufficient. The studies have not shown adequate conversion of ALA to DHA/EPA.

And yes, studies where people have taken supplements above and beyond actual physiological needs have not shown benefits for the most part (although some do show benefits). But that’s different from taking supplements to make up shortfalls in the diet.

Thanks a lot for this article. I supplement my diet with flaxseed, but the last time I tried taking a EPA/DHA supplement (that was long before I became vegan, but I used to eat fish only once in a few months…) my skin got a lot worse and I stopped taking it. Any ideas why that might be? I am allergic to a lot of foods, including nuts, soy and many uncooked fruits. Could I have been allergic to these supplements?

Iam allergic to all seafoods and all nuts but really want to start EPA/dha supplements, is there a brand with high quantitys of both and also has the ALA in it too, I would love to swallow the least amount of pills possible, yet get the most supplementation.

I would suspect that oils in capsules are going bad, even if air tight. Omega 3s are infamously sensitive to heat, light, and air degradation. I wouldn’t risk it. Just blend up some chia or flax fresh and eat it immediately. Cheaper and better.

[…] I did some googling and realized that chia seeds are very rich in ALA (alpha-linolenic acid) but do not contain DHA or EPA. Our body can convert ALA in DHA but the rate is 0-8% depending on the individual. This means that […]

[…] Vegan For Life or more information about these and other common concerns, such as essential fatty acids and minerals such as iodine, zinc and selenium. The author’s website also has a handy guide […]

[…] DHA and EPA are the omega-3′s found in fish oil and sea vegetables; we make these long-chain omega-3′s from ALA, and they aren’t considered essential nutrients. The evidence so far is inconclusive as to whether vegans should supplement (sea-plant-derived) DHA and EPA, and many vegans do so just to be on the safe side — the conversion process from short to long-chain omega-3′s is somewhat inefficient, and vegans tend to have lower levels of DHA and EPA than omnivores; but the jury is still out on exactly whether or how much that matters, in actual health outcomes related to vegan diets with vs. without DHA/EPA supplementation. […]